A Wake-up Call

Weekly Update: A Wake-up Call to Education

Minority students across America face harsher discipline, have less access to rigorous high school curricula, and are more often taught by lower-paid and less experienced teachers, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

The Department released the data this week from a national survey of more than 72,000 schools serving 85% of the nation’s students. The self-reported data, Part II of the 2009-10 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), covers a range of issues including college and career readiness, discipline, school finance, and student retention.

Secretary Duncan joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, together with their school superintendents last week, for a forum titled, “Education Now: Cities at the Forefront of Reform,” and hosted by MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. Watch the video here.

Weekly Highlights:

The arts are an important part of a well-rounded education for all students, Secretary Duncan wrote in a recent blog post about arts education. Read the entire post here.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is now accepting complaints from borrowers having difficulties with their private student loans. Read more here.

The Department launched the Why Open Education Matters Video Competition, a partnership competition that will award cash prizes of up to $25,000 for the best short videos that explain the use and promise of free, high-quality open educational resources and describe the benefits and opportunities these materials create for teachers, students and schools.